A Soft Place
by spacefemme
Summary: Gosalyn explores the abandoned haunted house across town. (Set after the F.O.W.L. Disposition arc in the comics)
1. Chapter 1

At least something good had come from being made to clean her room. No doubt Eek, Squeak, and Archie were finding plenty of food around the house, but with Morgana gone, Gosalyn figured they could use more just in case. Not to mention they probably needed a little company. Carrying a brown paper bag of various dead bugs she'd recovered from her windowsills, lamp base, and a few areas of the floor that hadn't been visible for weeks, she skated down the block to the tallest building in the neighborhood. Darkwing had made so many stops to this house on the way back from crime-foiling that she'd eventually memorized the way from there to the Mallards' house, and then vice versa. The kids on this street usually avoided it, whispering to their friends on the playground that it was haunted, and once you went in, you were never heard from again. Gos knew better - _of course_ it was haunted, but it was the kind of haunted house that wasn't really a risk. You got all the cool spooky stuff with none of the actual dangers of possession or death from fright...that is, as long as you were careful enough to avoid summoning something _really_ bad.

Stopping in front of the porch steps, she crouched down and untied her roller skates, leaving them in one of the overgrown hedges. The front door creaked open the way it always had, and for half a second, it almost felt like a regular visit. That feeling dissipated as soon as she saw how dark the place was. She struggled to remember where the light switches were. There had been a couple of nights, when her father's fights had become so serious that the grown-ups weren't sure it was safe for Gosalyn to even go home, that she had stayed the night in one of Morgana's spare rooms that could be cloaked from intruders by her magic. Late those nights, she had snuck around the hallways and staircases leading seemingly nowhere until being caught by her host, who, naturally, had still been up. Morgana was never quite as stern as Drake in those instances, though, and often took to explaining her home's odd architectural choices excitedly. Sometimes it would turn into conversations about Drake and whatever was going on in school or her field hockey team over chocolate milk for Gos and some kind of cool, mysterious witches' brew for Morgana. Despite Morg's leniency, however, Gosalyn always managed to wake up tucked into that guest bed in the morning. Awhile ago, she'd been familiar enough with the place to know where all the switches were, but slowly she'd forgotten. After fumbling around the walls on her tiptoes for a few moments, she felt a panel with a huge power switch on it. She jumped up to reach the top of it and pulled it down to turn on the lights in the foyer, shaking off the cobwebs as her feet returned to the floor. It was hard to tell if the house was just unkempt from months of abandonment, or if this was the way Morgana had always kept it.

"Helloooooooo?" she called out, and was almost immediately greeted by her three little friends gliding down the front stairs, giddy to finally see her again.

"Hey!" She smiled as Eek and Squeak nuzzled against her cheeks. "I've got some snacks for you guys!" She flipped the bag upside down and dumped its contents onto the floor for the boys to take their picks of. Archie nibbled on a few flies, then looked up at Gos, appearing both hopeful and just as worried as he'd been for however long they'd been alone here.

She sighed, "Still no sign of her. Sorry, guys. My dad's looking, though!" All three of the familiars became crestfallen again, and Gosalyn with them. "Yeah, we miss her, too. But she can handle whatever's being thrown at her; you know that." Eek, Squeak, and Archie all exchanged a look and nodded - hesitantly, but they still seemed to genuinely agree. Gosalyn looked around the front hall and started to feel nostalgic.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I look around? Just for a little bit? I've been kinda missing this place lately." Normally she wouldn't bother asking, but something was making her feel like she needed to respect this house more now. Archie motioned with one of his legs for her to go ahead. "Thanks."

First, she made her old rounds of stairwells and hallways that felt like they were stretching the farther she went, then she made her way to the sitting room where a good dozen late-night chats had taken place. From the sofa, she noticed a door that looked especially forgotten. She swatted the cobwebs away as best she could and turned the knob. It was rusted and took some extra muscle, but she managed to get it open, seeing around twenty candles on the walls light up by themselves as soon as she entered the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Naturally, the first thing she noticed after the candles was the cauldron. It was just like how they were in the movies, black and medieval-looking, with grime around the edges. There was still a giant ladle-type thing inside. There must have been hundreds of potion containers on the shelves around the room. Some she recognized, but she found herself wondering how one sorceress could possibly use all of them. Some looked like perfume bottles, some were small containers that looked like fancy jewelry boxes that you might find in an Imperial Russian palace, some were goblets that King Arthur and his buddies could've drunk out of. In anyone else's house, she'd be looking through all of them already, but past experiences had taught her to be a little more careful with magic. Besides, Morgana wasn't here to fix it if she messed up again. So she settled for reading the labels.

...That got boring _fast_. Yeah, yeah, melting potion, growth potion, color changing potion, what good were any of them if she couldn't see them in action? But she couldn't use them herself. Morgana had tried to teach her again after the incident at the Academy, knowing Gos was too embarrassed from it to learn any of it in an actual class, but Gosalyn still could never quite get it, or at least became too frustrated to keep trying for it. Morgana would note sometimes that she showed potential, though, so there was that to hold onto. When Morgana got back - and she wasgoing to get back - maybe Gos would take her up on those lessons one more time. Morgana and her dad and her teachers and almost all the grown-ups she knew (aside from all her dad's nemeses) kept giving her chances, she owed them the same, at least.

She found herself eyeing a small cloth sack sitting in a clear box sticking out of a more crowded shelf, tied shut with a piece of string. The writing on a piece of white masking tape on the side of the box facing her read "SLEEP SAND." That told her just about everything. She opened it to find that it was mostly empty anyway. The other bags in the box looked full, so this one would bring the least amount of risk. When Morgana got back from wherever she was, she probably wouldn't miss it. If she did, maybe she would assume it had been empty since the last time she'd been home. She pulled the drawstring closed again and headed back into the foyer, where the familiars were still sitting and munching on their treats. The second she reached their line of vision, she hid the sack behind her and tried to look casual as she exited.

"Well, this was really nice, guys," she said. "But I should be getting home. Dad won't get off my back about my grades and I've got this _huge_ test -"

As tiny as Archie was, she could see his eyes narrowing from the doorway, and before she could continue, he hopped over to her and crawled over her shoulder to find her contraband.

"Quit it!" she protested as he grabbed onto the drawstring and pulled on it until she was forced to reveal the bag to Eek and Squeak, who immediately flew over to take it from her. She managed to keep it from them, though, insisting that she wasn't stealing.

"I'm gonna give it back when Morgana comes home! I'm not gonna _use_ it, honest!" She was met with skeptical looks from the trio. "I just need somethin' to...I need to remember that she's coming back, okay?"

They softened their expressions, but still gestured that they couldn't let her take it.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" She was near tears by now. "It puts people to sleep, big whoop. It's not like I don't know how to wake 'em up. There's barely even any of it left, see?" She swiftly pulled the top of the bag open to show them, kicking up enough of its contents to make her drowsy all of a sudden. Eek and Squeak rushed to get a throw pillow from one of Morgana's armchairs to cushion her fall, and she was out within seconds.


	3. Chapter 3

When she opened her eyes, it looked like she was outside. Only...it didn't. She definitely wasn't in Morgana's house anymore, but she wasn't anywhere else she could recognize. There was just the color blue surrounding her in every direction. No clouds, no pavement, or any ground to speak of. Looking down, she realized she was sitting on some giant version of the nightstand in her room. There was a sort of path of floating cobalt blue platforms in front of her.

"Hey," she said to herself. "It's like Whiffle Boy! Maybe I can see where I am from one of these things." She hopped onto one after the other, but still failed to get her bearings. From the highest platform, she saw an object floating in the distance with some kind of creature on top of it. She noticed the platform she was standing on had started to drift off from its location, and wondered if she could steer it somehow. Kneeling down, she stuck her arms out of the sides and pushed back against the air, propelling herself toward the other inhabitant of this place, whatever it was. As she got closer, she saw that it was a strange goblin-looking animal resting on a pillow. She stopped right in front of it and started to reach out to get its attention when someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back, shushing her before she could wake it. Before Gosalyn could even question what was happening, the platform zoomed back to where it had been before, then spread out to form an actual floor.

"What are you _doing_ here?" came a familiar voice. Gosalyn whipped her head around and saw a long red dress, one she knew. She looked up further and saw a familiar face matching the voice she'd heard. For a moment, she forgot she was being scolded and became overjoyed.

"Morgana!" She leapt to her feet in excitement. "B-but how? And where the heck are we?"

Morgana couldn't help but smile. As much as she knew Gosalyn wasn't supposed to be there, she couldn't pretend not to be glad to see someone she knew.

"Our consciousnesses are in Dream World," she said. "We're both asleep, but you shouldn't have been able to reach this place. Not unless you had -" She looked down and saw Gos looking guilty as ever. "Were you snooping around my house?"

"Well, I was bringing the guys some food and they said I could look around and I found this door - wait. If this is a dream, then that can't actually be you…?"

"Anyone under the sleep sand's magic enters the same realm. I've managed to keep it secure, which is why it's so empty now." She furrowed her brow. "But I guess I forgot to Gosalyn-proof it. You didn't use too much, did you?"

Gosalyn waved her off. "It was just a little bit! But how do I know _you_ actually used it? This could just be a really weird dream and I'm the only one seeing any of this!"

"Good, then you won't be out for long. And your father's been here before. If you don't believe me, you can ask him."

"Yeah, right, like I'm gonna tell him I got ahold a' that stuff."

"Then I guess you simply have to trust me," she replied, looking around them at the endless blue surrounding them and holding her fingers to her temples until it morphed into something resembling her sitting room. It looked about the same as it did in reality, only with some details of the upholstery patterns missing and some misplaced candelabra. There was also no ceiling, no doors, no hallways leading to her other rooms, and the walls seemed to stretch for as long as either of them could see.

"Hey, shouldn't I be controlling my own dream?" Gosalyn said.

"Of course," Morgana shrugged. "Go ahead."

Gosalyn didn't want to say it, even to someone who wasn't real, but she didn't hate the choice in setting. But, if only to deny that to this figment having taken Morgana's form, she squeezed her eyes shut until her chair was transformed into a huge throne made of swords. Yeah, she'd been sneaking in some age-inappropriate TV past her bedtime, but what else was new?

Morgana lifted her own chair to reach her level and furrowed her brow, "That can't possibly be comfortable." She pointed her index finger at Gosalyn's seat and conjured up some cushions for her.

"In a dream it can," said a smirking Gos, making the cushions vanish and falling right onto the metal. She sunk down in it as if it was memory foam. "So if that really is you, why'd you have the sleep sand? What, do you just carry around a sack of that stuff with you?"

"I was babysitting you the last time I was in St. Canard, remember?"

Gosalyn's eyes widened. "So you were gonna sedate me?!"

"Only as a last resort!" Morgana defended herself. "And considering what you ended up doing that night, frankly, I don't think you can blame me."

"I guess not," Gosalyn muttered reluctantly. "So why'dja do it to yourself?"

Morgana sighed, "It's nice to know where I am for a change. And as long as I don't wake Nodoff, this is familiar enough that it can suffice until I get back home."

"Nodoff? You mean that little goblin thing?" Gosalyn looked over her shoulder in his direction, although she could hardly see him anymore.

"He's incredibly dangerous," Morgana warned. "When I sensed you were here, I knew I had to get to you before you found him."

 _Sure, now you care about not getting into danger,_ Gos wanted to say. Instead, she asked, after a pause, "So do you have _any_ idea where that giant squid thing took you?"

"I know my spell took care of him," she beamed. "As for where my body is, I'm afraid I've had some trouble figuring that out. Although I have been practicing a spell that could let me move between realities."

"Yeah, I thought so…and my dad's still trying to find you! We're gonna get you back soon enough, just you wait!" She sat down cross-legged and looked down at her sneakers. "He really misses you."

Morgana's face fell. "I miss him, too. I miss all of you. But it's like you said, I'll be back soon!"

"Are you sure?" She tried not to sound frightened, but Morgana could sense it in her.

"Absolutely, Gos," she said. "And until then, it's good to know my efforts weren't in vain." Smiling softly, she reached out and tilted Gosalyn's head up to face her.

"But -" Gosalyn had to stop when she saw the room around her start to deteriorate. "Hey, w-what's happening?"

"You must be waking up," said Morgana matter-of-factly.

Gosalyn's throne started to disappear and she was left back on a floating square. Soon, the only things that remained in front of her were Morgana and the red armchair. Smiling, Gos threw her arms around her to say goodbye. Morgana was startled for a split second, but gently returned the hug.

"See ya soon," Gosalyn said, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"Do me a favor," Morgana tried to speak fast before Gosalyn was gone. "Don't make too much trouble for your father, alright?"

In a few seconds, she had drifted far enough away that Morgana looked roughly the same size as Archie, but still near enough to hear her shout, " _Just enough to keep him alert!"_

* * *

The bats were hovering above her when she opened her eyes, and looked relieved when she started to sit up.

"Oh, hi guys," she said flatly, pushing herself up to her feet. When she didn't see the sack anywhere around, she guessed someone had locked it back up or thrown it away while she'd been out. "I'm really sorry about before. I thought it was the safest thing I could take, but I guess I oughta just quit messing with magic, huh?"

Before either of them could respond, a string of spiderweb extended from the top of the stairwell. Archie, of course, was at the end of it, clutching something with all eight legs. He landed on the floor by the others and Gosalyn crouched down to see what he was doing. Smiling up at her, he unfolded his legs and presented her with a black bat-shaped pendant on a long chain. He knew she wasn't much for jewelry, so he pushed the tiny button on the side, and it opened up to reveal, on the left side, a photo of Morgana from a couple of years back, and an empty space on the right side. He held the rather big locket up toward her and nodded for her to take it. A smile formed slowly on her face as she picked it up and clicked it shut.

"Thanks, Archie," she said, and turned toward Eek and Squeak. "I'll give it back to her when she comes home. It won't be too long." As confident as she was, it didn't quite rub off on her friends. "Hey, what's the matter? You trust her, don'tcha?" With no pockets, she put the necklace on and hid it under her tee shirt, waving goodbye to them.

Outside, she took her skates back out of the bush and strapped her helmet back on, racing home to find a decent family photo.


End file.
